Fanfiction» Fanfics» Shadow Forever

Author's Note: I made this announcement on Fanfic.net, way back when I had uploaded this in response to all the emails I got on it - so I might as well make it for «shadow» too, since I love you guys just so much :)

Basically, Shadow Forever is done. Finished. Why? Largely because the entire point of this story-Shadow surviving his fall from the Arc - was made moot by Sonic Heroes. I won't spoil any plotlines, but I will say it's made blatantly obvious Shadow did survive the fall. That, plus the fact that I haven't actually worked on this story in how long - more than a year by now - I really just have no motivation to continue.

For those of you SF-hopefuls out there, don't give up just yet - I've been tooling around with a rewrite that incorporates some Sonic Heroes stuff.

---

"Unh...Amy...Amy!!"

Tails was standing on the edge of a cliff. The cliff fell away into an eternal darkness, a vast pit of stomach-gulping terror and despair. And floating in the distance was a familiar, egg-shaped object-the Eggpod, and Eggman sat in it, cackling and clutching the front of Amy's shirt. Amy herself was limp, her eyes wide and distant. Blood dribbled down her chin.

Eggman shook Amy slightly, her arms and legs swaying. Her collar tore, a tiny rip in the fabric held by a few pathetic threads. Eggman glared at Tails, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose and a grin slicing his face.

"Do you want to save her, boy?" Eggman said. "She's right here. All you have to do is jump out to her."

Tails snarled, and jumped; the cliff fell out from under him, sucked up into the void. Eggman and Amy were just ahead of him...just out of reach...

Tails wrapped his hand around Amy's wrist and wound his tails up tight. He flew, taking Amy with him, but she was suddenly too heavy-Tails glanced down to see Eggman hanging on to him, his suit torn and blood dripping down his chin. His glasses and goggles were broken, and a long scar lined the side of his head.

"Wha-how?"

Tails looked back to the Eggpod. Amy was sitting in it, grinning with animalistic furor-but she wasn't Amy, she was a robot, a metallic duplicate of the girl Tails loved. Tails wanted to let Eggman fall, but his hand wouldn't listen to his brain and release-stuck with the burden he flew onward, Amy chasing him in the Eggpod.

Amy fired a laser at Tails and Eggman, and they were absorbed by white heat.

---

"Buhhh...ahh!"

Tails shot up in bed, panting. His fur was matted with sweat.

It took him a few seconds to register everything-the last thing he'd remembered was being with Knuckles, Shadow, Fang and Gamma on Pumpkin Hill. And then King Boom Boo came along...and...then what?

Fingers as cold as Death wrapped around his body.

Trapped in a gnashing pit of teeth.

He'd been eaten.

And if he'd been eaten, was this the Ghost King's stomach? Tails glanced around and squinted his eyes. He was in an ordinary room with an ordinary bed, a window on the left wall raining in fresh sunlight. Emerald Coast reached out in the bottom corners, and the ocean spanned all the way to the horizon beyond, as if begging to be seen. A few pictures of natural settings hung on the walls, and a coffee table stacked with magazines lay against the wall. Beside the bed was a nightstand with a regular lamp, and nothing else. There was that bright flash of blue light...

"You're awake...thank God."

Knuckles came in through the doorway, relief flooding across his normally-cold features. The Echidna sat down on the edge of Tails' bed, and stared out one of the windows.

"Knux, what happened?" Tails muttered. "Is this all some kinda vision?"

Knuckles shook his head. "No. You were dead, but we saved you."

"We?"

"The Chaotix, Sonic, Gamma, Chaos and I." Knuckles threw his head back. "We were really worried about you. Sonic was ready to kill someone."

Tails gave a sardonic chuckle. "What, over me? He hasn't cared about me worth two shits in years."

"I think it's just how he is," Knuckles said. "Sonic doesn't like to look weak, so he'll hide his emotions and his true feelings. It works against him most of the time, but last night...I saw something incredible in him. Something I haven't seen before. He was bursting with fire, even after the fight was over. He himself carried you to the hotel."

Tails' ears flattened down against his skull. "If he cared so much, why isn't he here now?"

Knuckles sighed. "He went off to find Rouge and Tikal. Almost everyone is united again, but Chaos said the two girls had the Master Emerald and were somewhere in the Mystic Ruins. Since there's nobody faster than him..."

"Wonderful."

They paused. Tails clasped his hands together and stared at his sheets. The ghastly images of the dream floated in the back of his mind, fading too quickly. Should he tell Knuckles about it? The images were a lot more vivid than a regular dream's. They might be a cause of some concern. But Tails didn't want to look stupid...

"Knux, I had a fucked up dream," he blurted.

"Oh?" He hiked a scarlet eyebrow, his lavender gaze meeting Tails' sky blue one.

"I dreamed I was saving Amy from Eggman...but when I grabbed Amy and flew away, I was holding Eggman and Amy was chasing after us, trying to kill us. Do you think it means something?"

Knuckles shrugged. "How should I know? I'm a guardian, not a psychologist."

"Even so, you haven't had anything to guard for a few months."

"You're right..." Knuckles bit his lower lip in consideration. "I wouldn't worry about it. It was probably just a nightmare, you know? Besides, there's no way Amy would turn on you like that. She loves you too much. I guess."

"Like you would know."

"Don't use my words against me, kid!" Knuckles grinned. "I said that already. And just because I don't know anything about girls doesn't mean I can't see that she's too in love with you to hurt you."

Tails shrugged. "I guess."

"Yeah, well...are you hungry?"

Tails considered it for a second, and nodded.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so."

Knuckles nodded. "Good, because the others are all waiting at the burger joint near Town Hall. We'll grab some grub, my treat."

"Thanks," Tails said. He climbed out of the bed, threw on some clothes, and followed Knuckles out the hotel room.

Tails wasn't really feeling hungry at all...the opposite, he felt too full. But he didn't want Knuckles to worry too much...

---

Sonic, Espio and Chaos stood at the border of the Mystic Ruins. Before them lay a thick vegetation, choking off the Echidna temple in the center of the maze, and stretching out to the Final Egg in the far distance. Chaos gave a low, underwatery howl, and jumped away from the ledge, sliding into the forest, disappearing beneath its thick canopies.

"The Master Emerald is close," Espio murmured.

"Spending all that time with Knucklehead has really rubbed off on ya," Sonic said.

Espio gave a smug grin. "Of course." He melted away into the background. Sonic heard him jump, and saw part of the canopy fold inward where the chameleon landed. Espio continued towards the Final Egg, bounding across the treetops. Sonic followed, leaping from tree branch to tree branch, somersaulting through the air with incredible ease.

Sonic wrapped his hands around another branch and swung around it, shooting wildly up into the air. The sky and foliage blurred together, a giant orb of green and blue. And then fire erupted across his body, and he was falling uncontrollably. He landed in the dirt, face down. He craned his neck upwards to see a familiar blue metal frame.

Metal Sonic stood over his flesh and bone counterpart, clutching a green gem; no, the Master Emerald. Sonic struggled to get to his feet, but Metal kicked him hard in the jaw, sending Sonic skidding across the dirty forest floor.

"Hello Sonic," Metal said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're not in any shape to fight me now, are you? You're exhausted."

"Fuck off," Sonic growled, flipping Metal the bird. He pushed up into a sitting position before flopping down with a groan.

"Heh," Metal murmured. He hovered over to the fallen hero, and held the Master Emerald just above Sonic's nose. "You're too tired to even reach this, aren't you?"

Sonic raised a dirty, gloved hand for the gem before his strength gave out. He let his hand slide back down to the ground. Metal laughed, straightened up, and turned around.

"Your bat and echidna friends are inside the Final Egg, Hedgehog. I've set the building to detonate in five minutes. Can you save them?"

Sonic glowered. Metal laughed again before jumping up into the air and flying away.

The canopy of green above rustled, and Espio dropped down, falling out of his invisibility before he landed. The Chameleon helped Sonic to his feet.

"I heard what happened," Espio said. "Chaos is gone somewhere-he'll probably go after Metal, and I can't lift Rouge and Tikal by myself."

"Tikal? She's here?" Sonic asked. He and Espio began moving towards the back end of the forest.

"Yeah," Espio said, hiking a brow. "You didn't notice the HintBalls everywhere? And if Chaos is here..."

"They have to exist on the same plane at the same time, I get it." Sonic slapped his forehead. "Like Yin and Yang. They can't live without the other one."

"Exactly." Espio nodded. "And Metal Sonic took her out."

The ruins fell away before them. They fell away into a drop so long that anyone unfortunate enough to fall from it would die of asphyxiation before landing. Sonic shivered-he'd never done well with water or heights, and the Final Egg was suspended above one of those two, and the connecting bridge looked about ready to collapse.

"Okay, here's a question for you," Sonic said. "Can you Spin Dash?"

Espio shook his head. "No, but I can stick to walls and use my tongue to drag myself across short distances really fast. And I figure we've got three minutes left to get over there."

Sonic unhitched himself from Espio's shoulder and curled up into a ball. "Then get ready to move tail."

Sonic dashed into the bridge at the same time Espio leapt on top of it. Espio began running, spat his tongue out, and flung himself forward; repeating this move allowed him to keep up with Sonic's pace on the inside, repeated Spin Dashes without more than a second to stand up and do it again. Abruptly, the tower stood directly before them; Espio jumped into the hole Rouge had created at the same time Sonic popped out through the bridge entrance.

"Warning," spoke a robotic female voice. "Tower detonation in one minute and thirty seconds. All personnel and functioning robots evacuate immediately. Warning, tower detonation in..."

Sonic and Espio gave a quick glance around. Wherever Rouge and Tikal were, it wasn't obvious; Espio melted away into the shadows and leapt down to the lower level of the lobby, while Sonic raced around the upper.

Next to the entrance to the Final Egg training course, Sonic found a still-activated computer; data was flowing across the screen, and a small, portable disk was sticking out of a data jack port. It was something Rouge had designed, Sonic had seen one before-Mighty had gone to get one on the escape from Prison Island. As the robotic voice counted down how much time was left, Sonic shrugged, grabbed the disk, and pulled it out in mid-transfer, shoving it deep inside a pocket.

"Sonic!" Espio called from below. "I've found the girls, I need your help!"

"Coming!" Sonic hurdled over the safety rail and landed in a painful crouch on the lower floor. He hobbled over to Espio, who was standing next to a neon green tube that held Rouge and Tikal, both naked, with snake-trails of electronics and metal crawling along their bodies, slowly.

"Oh shit," Sonic whispered. "They're being roboticized!"

"I've never dealt with one of these before," Espio said, wild-eyed. "How do we deactivate it?"

"Simple answer: We can't. Not by any practical means, anyway. Stand back."

Espio stumbled back a few steps. Sonic crouched down again, his joints and spine popping; he rolled up and Spin Dashed into the tube, spraying glass everywhere. Sonic backflipped up to his feet, reached inside, and grabbed Tikal by the shoulders. He screamed, feeling the roboticizer's touch on his fore-arms, and dragged the unconscious Echidna from the glassy tomb.

Already, Sonic's fingertips were starting to feel numb. His gloves had a metallic sheen to them, and he swore that bolts were poking up through the fabric. The only time he'd ever seen a partial roboticization was years ago, when he was five-a rabbit girl whose arm and legs had been turned to metal by one of the first Roboticizers. Sixteen years later, Eggman's technology had improved, and now it seemed like roboticization had a temporary lingering affect.

The cold pain stopped crawling along Sonic's hands, and he reached back inside and grabbed Rouge. The bat was much heavier than Tikal, and he nearly buckled under her weight; Espio helped support Sonic with one hand, and grabbed Tikal up with the other. Together, Sonic and Espio carried the girls up the stairs and to the bridge again.

"Tower detonation in thirty seconds."

Sonic collapsed onto the floor, his breath heavy and ragged. His lungs and joints felt like they were on fire, and his muscles burned. Even just holding part of Rouge's weight was exhausting, and Espio was starting to burn out, too.

"There ain't enough time to get out with both of them," Espio rasped, sweating profusely. Red lights began flashing, bathing the four furries in a bloody red glow.

"I won't let them die," Sonic growled. "I'll grab their feet and you grab their shoulders, we'll haul them out together, one on top of the other."

"You don't have the energy to make it and I can't keep up with your speed." Despite the statement, Espio was already hauling Tikal over on top of Rouge. Sonic leaned over the girls and wrapped his arms around their ankles, and Espio grabbed Rouge's shoulders; they lifted up and began shuffling onto the bridge.

"Twenty seconds," the tower called.

The other end of the bridge was so far away.

"Fifteen."

They weren't even halfway there.

"Ten."

Sonic's knees finally gave out. He stumbled, and the girls slid out of Espio's grasp, dragging the Chameleon down, too.

"Eight...seven..."

The tower shuddered. It was heaving a death throe, as if resisting it's own demise. Sonic wanted to move with it, to move at all, but he was just too tired...

"Five..."

Sonic was dimly aware of a large arm wrapping around his body, suddenly so frail and weak. Then he was off the ground, and the bridge floor was moving, almost propelled on its own, just a few feet down. It could have been miles and miles for all he cared.

"Four..."

There was Rouge out of one corner of his eye-her arms were crawling with electronics, and her torso had turned entirely into metal, leaving her chest and neck as flesh.

"Three..."

Tikal, a similar hybrid of skin and metal, near Rouge.

"Two..."

Espio, his head bobbling wildly, his chin occasionally crashing down on top of Sonic's head, stunning both of them.

"One..."

A blur of purple and black fur, followed by a blob of green...

"Zero."

The Final Egg heaved. Flames engulfed its entirety, launching down the bridge, shattering the floor, ceiling and windows. Big the Cat leapt from its entrance, all four passengers wedged tightly under his arms. Froggy clung to the end of Big's tail, shrieking as fire licked at them.

---

Big didn't stop running until they reached his hut in the center of the forest. Everyone was alive, if not slightly singed.

"Are you all okay?" Big drawled, setting his passengers onto the wooden floor of his hut one-by-one.

Sonic stared woozily at the large feline, and in his haze, struggled to grasp at why the guy was so familiar.

"You are all really lucky," Big continued when nobody replied. "Froggy saw you go inside the big tower."

"Ribbit," Froggy croaked.

Espio drew a shaky breath and pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Th...thank you. Both of you."

"You're welcome," Big said, sounding pleased enough. "My name's Big...I'm a cat."

"I'm Espio. I need you to do me a favor, Big...watch over these three, alright? They've been through a rough time and I need to get them to Station Square hospital-"

"I can get them there fast," Big stated.

Espio blinked. "Er...um, okay. How?"

Big blinked, and his nose twitched once.

"I'll use my bed," he said at last.

Espio blinked in return. "What?"

Big picked Sonic up. Espio made a move to stop him, but caught himself; Big was exceptionally strong, maybe, but he moved with such deliberate care. He laid Sonic down on the rough-wood frame, thatch-mattress bed like a mother putting her child to sleep. He took even greater care with Rouge and Tikal, and lastly, picked Espio up from where he sat and plopped the Chameleon down on the end of the bed.

"What are you going to do?" Espio asked.

Froggy croaked in response, and hopped up onto the bed, making himself comfortable next to Sonic. Big shuffled around in a chest nearby, and came out holding a set of restraints and makeshift fences built from tree branches. The restraints he tied around the waists of the girls and Sonic, and the fences were put up around the edges of the bed and tied down.

"We gonna get to the choo-choo real quick like this," Big muttered. "I'll tell the driver man to take us real fast. He's a good listener." Big chuckled at the last statement. "Now hold on Mr. Espio!"

Espio gripped the sheets tightly. Big leaned down, grabbed the bed from it's frame, and hefted the entire thing up above his head with incredible ease. The cat carried his bed through the forest, and Espio kept waiting for the trip or the stumble that would send them all flying; it never came. Big carried them all the way through the forest so steadily, that Espio swore he was riding on a magic carpet. And Big kept them steady, too, all the way up the ladder, climbing with one hand and supporting the bed with the other. Sonic, Rouge and Tikal stayed firmly in place, and Froggy chirruped happily now and then.

At last, they were back on the cliff face that Espio, Sonic and Chaos had started on. Big hopped into the mine cart, and from then it was a blurred journey back into Station Square.